


never bring you back again

by Marishna



Series: Drips, drops and drabbles - significant moments of insignificantness [36]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: College, College Student Derek, College Student Stiles, Education, Getting to Know Each Other, M/M, POV Derek Hale, Partnership, Pre-Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, School, Short One Shot, Strangers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-01
Updated: 2017-05-01
Packaged: 2018-10-26 04:38:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10779741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marishna/pseuds/Marishna
Summary: The mere mention of “group work” usually sends most students into a spiral of dread and complaining and Derek Hale was no different, although he kept his deep sigh of frustration quiet.





	never bring you back again

**Author's Note:**

> Written for a music prompt in a challenge at cards_write on LJ. The song prompt was "Ribcage" by Andy Black
> 
> I'm doing Merry Month of Masturbation again this year and am taking visual and setting prompts [here](http://marishna.livejournal.com/940617.html). Feel free to leave some in the comments to help me out!

The mere mention of “group work” usually sends most students into a spiral of dread and complaining and Derek Hale was no different, although he kept his deep sigh of frustration quiet.

He listened as the professor explained the project on which half their grade for the course was based on. He was only in the criminal justice course to fill a credit and it sounded like something he could fit into his schedule that was somewhat interesting. 

As the professor continued to go over the project guidelines Derek glanced around the room to see who he could pair up with. He only knew the names of a handful of his fellow students and he wasn’t even sure at least three of them were right. 

His eyes wandered as he stared at the backs of people’s heads and imagined spending the last two months of the semester with them. He didn’t have friends in this class--hell, he barely had friends on the whole campus. As far as Derek was concerned he was here to get an education and move on with his life. Nothing more, nothing less. That mentality kept Derek’s life from getting complicated, which was the way he liked it. The way his life _had_ to be, considering his past… 

As he drifted in thought his gaze slid to his right and he didn’t really register what he was doing until he locked eyes with a student across the room.

Stiles Stilinski. One of the lucky few Derek knew 100%. 

The guy was whip smart and knew it. It made him come off like a smartass but Derek got the idea that was his intention and if so, mission accomplished. He could steer any class off course with one simple question and was often the instigator of at least a weekly debate, sometimes with the professor and sometimes with students. 

Derek usually sat back and watched, content to slide by in the course by saying as little as possible and being the shadow in the room. The passion Stiles exhibited during discussions always drew Derek’s attention despite his best attempts to stay disengaged. Derek took the bait once, a couple weeks earlier, and he and Stiles had a ten-minute debate about dealing with homeless populations in urban centers. 

Truth be told, Derek couldn’t even remember what position he took or what he said, just that he enjoyed the back and forth they had. He remembered watching other students’ heads turn back and forth as if they were watching a tennis match and the experience was as invigorating as a good, challenging match.

And now Stiles was staring at him with a thoughtful look as the long, slender fingers on one hand tapped idly against his jaw. 

Occasionally Derek saw Stiles on campus, running to and fro between buildings, or hanging out with his friends on the quad or in the cafeteria but they’d never exchanged a single word to this day. So it was weird when Stiles noticed Derek noticing him. He seemed to shake himself, then grinned at Derek and _winked_.

“What the hell?” Derek breathed so quietly he could barely hear himself. 

Derek hadn’t sent some kind of wordless signal that he was interested in being partners, right? No Bat symbol in the sky or even a tilt of his head. Not that he had any better prospects. 

Derek was so lost in thought he didn’t notice his classmates getting up and moving around to claim a partner until someone accidentally bumped his desk. He looked up to his left at their mumbled, “sorry”, and when he looked back Stiles was standing beside him.

All of Derek’s words fled. “Uh.” 

“Hey! I think we’d be good together. Partners?” Stiles asked outright.

“Good together?” Derek repeated faintly.

“As project partners!” Stiles clarified quickly but his cheeks seemed to pink up a bit.

Derek stared up at Stiles for a long moment before nodding. “Yeah, okay.”

Stiles grinned and turned to grab a chair to sit beside him while Derek started internally panicking. 

“I don’t think this is going to be easy and we might go at each other’s throats between now and the end but I have a really great idea that I know we can kick ass on,” Stiles said as he sat down, facing Derek. “Are you with me?”

Derek felt like someday he’d look back at this time in his life and who he was as a person and he’d be able to pinpoint this moment as when everything changed. His initial reaction was to say no and back out altogether before Stiles wormed his way into Derek’s life but goddammit, he was curious and intrigued.

He nodded once. “I’m in.”

Pin dropped, turn taken, change initiated.


End file.
